Praia da Amorosa and Viana do Costelo

This morning I realised that what I thought had been a thoughtful gift of wine and beer in the fridge from the owner of our “apartment “ turned out to be the equivalent of a mini bar. I discovered the chit underneath another piece of paper, detailing the prices of everything in the fridge. Needless to say we had drunk everything, even the tiny bottles of sparkling water.

I must try that when Joe comes home and immediately heads for the fridge. I’ll present him with a little tick form with things like “slice of salami 1 Euro” and “swig of organic apple juice 50cents” and see what transpires.

We headed for the beach of Praia da Amorosa which is 15 minutes drive south of here. There is what appears to be a half finished new town/resort by the beach which gives it a slightly soulless feel.

It was very windy as we walked up the beach and before long the sun disappeared, meaning I had to put my fleece on. I haven’t worn a fleece since May, thanks to the wonderful summer the UK has been experiencing.

Walking along the beach, heading south was fine but on the way back, there was a fearsome head wind.

Giving up on the idea of a beach day, we popped home to scoff our rolls in a sand free environment.

Next, we headed off to walk the 2km of steps leading up to Templo do Sagrado Coração de Jesus, on top of Monte de Santa Luiza. It was a good leg stretcher even though we didn’t go inside the church. There’s a great view of Viana do Costelo from the hill. For the lazy, there’s a funicular that goes to the top.

Next, we walked down the hill into town and visited the Gil Eannes. It was a hospital naval ship used in the 1950’s when Portuguese fisherman were fishing off Newfoundland for their beloved cod. Actually quite fascinating, especially seeing all the equipment and engineering parts that had been made in the UK. Those were the days!

Hot footed it home for a quick shower before we went out to eat. No water. At all. In order to double check there was actually no water anywhere, not just the shower , I turned the taps on in the bathroom sink which unfortunately had the plug in. Obviously I’d forgotten I’d turned them on so when the water came back on I had my shower, and got out to be greeted by a bit of a flood. Luckily the towels provided at the Quinta were very absorbent so I don’t think any long term damage was done.

We wandered down to the restaurant nearest to us , the Beira Rio, which was by the river, next to the old bullring. Literally after we were seated, there was a stream of people entering the restaurant which carried on until we left at 10pm. Top tip: get here by 7.45pm, very popular with locals.

Starting off on a sensible note, I ordered a small glass of red wine and steve ordered a beer. We received 2 glasses of wine and a beer. We couldn’t be bothered to return it so steve drank the extra one and it was so nice we ordered another glass each. ( I switched to white as red doesn’t agree with me these days.) The wine glasses this time we’re mega – easily containing half a bottle of wine. (Same price as the small ones, go figure )

we are alcohol lightweights these days so even after our food (very nice btw) we were totally drunk and it was a miracle we found our way home. Neither of us remembers actually getting in to our apartment but I do recall making a mint tea which was still on my bedside table, untouched, this morning.